Mission Statement:

The Memphis Blues Society is an all volunteer non-profit arts organization. Our mission is to preserve and promote by presenting Blues events to the community of Memphis and support Blues artists.

History:

Since 2005, the Memphis Blues Society (MBS) has worked to preserve Blues culture. MBS has organized and encouraged live Blues performances by Memphis and Mid-South musicians. Of late, MBS has significantly increased its efforts to broaden public awareness of the Blues in the Memphis/Mid-South area by expanding the number of venues featuring local Blues musicians and by developing the educational content of its social media, newsletter, and other outlets. The Memphis Blues Society (MBS) promotes and preserves a unique African-American art form of Blues.

On October 2 & 3, 2015, the Memphis Blues Society will present the inaugural Bona Fide Blues Festival. Musicians from the tri-state area will be celebrated in Memphis. This festival will offer 25 artistically excellent Blues performances starting on Friday at 5 pm until 11 pm and then on Saturday from noon until 11 pm. The MBS will hire Blues musicians from the Mid-south Area (the 100-mile radius of Memphis that includes Jackson, TN; Helena, AR; Oxford and Clarksdale, MS; and, Jonesboro, AR). The location of the Bona Fide Blues Festival will be in the revitalized Overton Square. The Main stage will be located in the Tower Courtyard and another stage will be located in the parking lot facing Cooper Street. These two stages will be free of charge, and family-friendly, which is successful in attracting mainstream Memphis audiences, a critical aim of the Blues Society in its continuing effort to promote Blues. Festival attendees of all ages will have full immersion into the Blues over two days.

The Memphis Blues Society dedicates itself to offer the community of every socio-economic level and all ages the opportunity to study, research and appreciate the Blues and the culture that gave it birth.

The value of this project is to honor and respect Mid-South Musicians, who act as our Blues ambassadors around the world. Memphis and the Mid-South hold a special place in music history of the development of this unique, original African-American art form. Sought by music fans worldwide, our Mid-South Blues practitioners often receive more appreciation outside our community than within. They are like a Biblical prophet "who was honored everywhere except in his own country, and in his own house." The MBS intends to bring Mid-South Blues musicians, truly Memphis' own 'Blues Prophets' home to Memphis, to strengthen our city and surrounding region, and to honor our ambassadors in their home. The BFBF aims to increase Memphians' awareness of the Blues by expanding the local audience, bringing residents of our region together to celebrate Blues prophets; musicians who embody - and create - the Blues, our local treasure.